New Restaurant Alert: Limbaga 77 at Scout Limbaga, Quezon City

(SPOT.ph) There’s always something special about restaurants that used to be old houses. The rustic quality that can’t be replicated, and that automatic feeling of being welcome. Of the many destination restaurants that have somehow squeezed themselves in the tightest corners of Quezon City, Limbaga 77 is the latest. It’s a hard-to-miss two-storey space with an easy-to-remember address (it’s 77 Scout Limbaga, if you didn’t realize it) and a penchant for classical Filipino cooking.

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The pretty Limbaga 77 touches on many dining requirements. It’s bright, a contrast to most traditional Filipino restaurants, and subdued for its size. A wide brick wall punctuated with bright plants at the cozy al fresco area is the primary focal point-the Instagram shot.

We love the plant details.

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Second floor

There are two of everything: two private rooms; two floors; two open terraces, one for each floor; two sets of restrooms, one for each floor. It’s an amplified level of Filipino hospitality. There are even two bars because God forbid you wait a few minutes longer than necessary for your drink.

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Limbaga 77 House Salad (P377)

Flavor is vibrant in the way only our local fare could be. Even the salad, usually overlooked in the standard meat-heavy Filipino menu, boasts a confident setup of crisp romaine lettuce, jicama strips, and whole shrimps. Kesong puti dabs in creaminess, ripe mangoes sweetness, and red onions bite, but it’s the inspired slices of caramelized bananas-crunchy and chewy at the same time-that sets the pace in the salad.

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Kare-kare

The Kare-kare (P577), always a crowd pleaser, is a nutty, tripe-heavy affair. There’s no need to fight over the pieces because there’s plenty of tuwalya, beef, and sauce to go around. It pairs surprisingly well with the Danggit Rice (P97), which has just enough flavor to be distinct but still subtle that it doesn’t compete with the flavors of the other dishes.

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Baked Lechon

Though it is quite a challenge to take away attention from the Baked Lechon (P677). It’s everything you look for in your roast pig-and more because it spends extra time in the oven. That added effort creates a different kind if skin: a bubblier, crackling coat that makes us think of crispy pata. Limbaga 77 serves it as a boneless rolled belly (like porchetta) sliced into five manageable pieces. Finally, a restaurant that lets smaller groups enjoy lechon.

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Binusog na Pusit (P277)

There are also dishes that put a funkier touch on classics, like the grilled binusog na pusit that wears a zippy zigzag of pesto.

This is just a slice of the Brazo de Tablea

The desserts, which are supplied by Pino and automatically playful, are stellar in their own right. The Brazo de Tablea (P277) is equal parts moist and fluffy. The texture finds itself between bread and souffle; and the middle ground is light as air, with richness from the alternating swipes of dark chocolate.

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There’s something special about Limbaga 77. It may be the oversized brick wall; the appeal to large groups, small cliques, and couples; the attentive service, the two bars, but it’s really the flavors of home that hits the proverbial, er, home.